Random, Random, Random
Random thoughts because that's all my blurry head can come up with. I'm not quite back into the regular routine of life. The boys seem to have plunked right back in....Leo with his standard schedule of staying up half the night and doing all his computer/trains things....Owen with his erratic schedule of staying up all night occasionally and constantly starting new projects. Ernie, well he's with me...not quite back in the saddle yet.
Yesterday afternoon I saw an orthopedist who told me, no surprise, that I have moderate to severe arthritis in my knees. I'd had x-rays done right before vacation and this was the follow up. He gave me cortisone shots in both knees. In theory this will take effect between 48 hours and 2 weeks....hopefully lasting a few months. The reality is that starting last night my left knee in particular is FAR more painful than it has been. It kept me awake in the night and is really hurting. A little googling tells me this is a cortisone flare and should resolve itself within a day or two. In the meantime....let's just say it's not doing a lot to help me plunge back in....
Something more positive. Some of my favorite moments of vacation:
Sitting on the deck in Lubec with the guys looking at the brilliant stars...oh, and they are so brilliant there. The sky was amazing. It was almost too cold to sit outside but it felt so good to be there watching the sky with my boys, hearing the ocean....
Our vacation tradition of watching of A Mighty Wind. We watch this every time we are on vacation with Debbie. Part of the pleasure is watching Ernie watch it. He is so amused by it that he is incapacitated with laughter. He starts laughing before it even starts and turns bright red....which in turn makes Owen hysterical. This was the first year Leo joined us for it and it was a great moment for us all when we got to the model train line....
We left on Wednesday because I have sworn that I won't do that thing anymore in which you get home from a couple of days of driving and go back to work the next morning. Besides...we were running out of money. I had wanted to take the guys to see Niagara Falls. They were distinctly uninterested however, the little jerks. On the way to Maine as we were driving through Bennington, Vermont, Owen had spotted a Volkswagon bug for sale. He is currently OBSESSED with getting a 1960s era VW bug. OBSESSED I tell you. All he talked about was bugs...he brought his library books on bugs....talked about bugs, asked his father constantly about his old bug. He desperately wants to get one. He's trying to figure out how to get a job to save money to get one to work on. I actually think it would be good so I am not opposed...we just have to be able to afford one. He talked about the bug in Bennington so much that I finally promised him we would drive through on the way home. He, of course, spent the rest of vacation researching trailer hitches, etc. When we got into Bennington it was after 4 pm and we searched and searched for it to no avail. Finally we checked into the hotel and Leo got on Google maps and found it. It was 4:30 and they closed at 5:00. Leo and I screeched at the two of them to hurry up and gave them directions. Then we curled up and relaxed in our comfortable hotel room. The two blondes came back and said it was way too expensive for the condition it was in ($2,500) so all thoughts of trailer hitches were put to rest. In the meantime...if anyone knows of a cheap bug ready for an aspiring 14 year old mechanic...please let me know.
The next morning I had hoped to spend a little time in Bennington....maybe eat at the Miss Benn diner or the like. It was not to be however...Leo announced that one of his favorite engines was just off the turnpike in Pennsylvania and that the train museum was only open until 4:00 pm. I googled driving times and started yelling "WE'VE GOT TO GO" and rushing everybody to the car. We could JUST barely make it. Minimal stops and lots of hurrying all day but we missed it by about 20 minutes. However, it was not fenced off so we were still able to walk around and Leo was thrilled and that made me floatingly happy. Ernie said to Leo, "I hope you're as happy as your mother is." And I think he was. He has now seen 2 of the 3 existing Little Joes. I love it when my boys are happy. I am such a sucker.
Onward.